Sydney, April 24 - Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd has priced renounced rights from its one-for-eight rights issue at A$37.25 each, a premium to the theoretical ex-rights price, two sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
The strike price for the new rights offer was set at A$29.00, a 21.6 percent discount to Wesfarmers last traded price. The shares should theoretically trade at A$36.08 after the rights issue to take account of the stock's dilution.
However, rights that were not taken up by some institutional shareholders were taken up by other institutional buyers at A$37.25 each.
"The premium reflects the fact that the buyers of the renounced institutional rights feel the stock will re-rate positively after the capital raising," one source familiar with the deal said.
Wesfarmers announced plans earlier this week for the A$2.6 billion ($2.5 billion) share sale. The sale was fully underwritten by six banks.